Alison Balsom (piccolo trumpet)
Baroque Concertos
Pinnock’s Players/Trevor Pinnock (harpsichord, organ)
rec. 2024, St Jude on the Hill, London
Reviewed as lossless download
Warner Classics 2173227329 [64]
A quick inspection of the contents list at the end of this review will reveal that while these are indeed baroque concertos, none of them started life with the trumpet as the solo instrument. One of the first classical CDs I bought was a bargain issue of Maurice André playing a group of transcribed concertos, one of which was the Telemann also on this new recording. It remains a favourite album.
The booklet notes make it clear that the peerless French maestro was the inspiration for this new album by Alison Balsom, today’s trumpet champion of the Baroque and Classical eras. Like André, Balsom has chosen the piccolo trumpet, a product of the 20th century. André was more a hindrance for HIP veteran Trevor Pinnock, for whom those recordings were a “sound world which I deliberately challenged”, and who was only finally persuaded to participate in this recording after a few “trial” days.
Transcriptions, as opposed to rearrangements, can be tricky to get right. The further one goes away from the original instrument, the harder it can become to make the “new” piece work. That said, the Vivaldi violin concertos and the Handel Concerto Grosso work very well in their new garb. The G minor Vivaldi is mostly about the extraordinary virtuosity asked of Alison Balsom, while the Handel actually seems an improvement on the original (I feel like I’ve committed heresy in saying this). Of the oboe concertos, the Albinoni is probably the best known, and is one of my favourite pieces of music. Its slow movement reminds me of the sublime theme music composed by Geoffrey Burgon for the 1981 British TV series Brideshead Revisited, and in this transcription, the resemblance is even stronger. However, the plaintive sound of the oboe works better than the brilliant clean sound of the trumpet in this slow movement. The opposite applies in the Marcello, where I think the trumpet wins out over the original. In fact, the Marcello is the standout work on the album. This leaves us with the Telemann, providing a direct comparison between the old and new, and the verdict is something of a split decision. I feel Balsom is ever so slightly outplayed by André, but the orchestral accompaniment provided by Pinnock and his hand-picked ensemble wins hands down.
It can almost be taken as read that Alison Balsom’s playing is brilliant, but that would be unfair on her, so I will say it: Alison Balsom’s playing is brilliant in both senses of the word. I’ve already mentioned the virtuosity required in the Vivaldi works, and that also applies to the finale of the Marcello. In the slow movements, however, I found myself at times wanting a little less brilliance in the tone. There is no doubt that in sound quality, the new recording completely trumps the André, though at times – in the Albinoni slow movement especially – the organ is given a little too much prominence.
Will this take the place of my André album? No, non-HIP as it might be, it is simply glorious music-making. However, that doesn’t mean that this new album won’t get frequent plays, because it has much to offer, Balsom’s effortless virtuosity being foremost.
David Barker
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Contents
Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
Violin Concerto in G minor RV 316a (Op.4 No.6)
Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1751)
Oboe Concerto in D minor Op.9 No.2
Antonio Vivaldi
Violin Concerto in D major RV 230 (Op.3 No.9)
Alessandro Marcello (1673–1747)
Oboe Concerto in D minor S.D935
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767)
Oboe Concerto in F minor TWV 51:f1
George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)
Concerto Grosso in D major HWV 323 (Op.6 No.5)
Transcriptions by Simon Wright
